Show s 1 L 1 I 1 i MF I 1 fsr AJ f 1 by VIVIAN ccaude vl copi egl t by josefi bowls she gets up tl at morning with a lull headache a miserable sense of heaviness and nervous unrest corn mon enoich doubtless to young bothers who have not yet succeeded n adjusting their endurance to the various b girdens of life she goes out into the pleasant oty kitchen charley has already b nit the fire in the range and has gone on into the laige shed room the call his vi ork ahoi where he is occupying his choirs in con strutting ting a set ot f from patterns fora spare bed room nellie is laining lap ning to ai range well he may feel fresh and lively and like working thinks nellie half sullenly as ahe listens ta the cheer ul mellow whistle with which he keeps time to the music of his tools he slept like a rock all night I 1 don t suppose he ever guesses how 1 atle leep or rest I 1 got or cares either maybe aich last is clearly unjust and charley hurt Is one of the best bus bands in the whole woi ld as nellie herself is often headd to say she goes mechanically about her morning duties preparing the break fast she knows charley likes best and putting up a dainty dinner in his neat lunch basket for he does not come home till knightall nigh tall the time hoping against hope that baby will not waken till she gets some of the most needful work done the very sunshine falls to cheer her with its slightness blight ness breakfast Bieak fast oer he sas cheera illy nell I 1 wish sew a button or two on my coat I 1 ve missed some this day or so his tone is the fullest possible aiom a hint of faultfinding she ays les charley very but lifts the offending gar bees them bring in the man she hoves knef with a spiteful jerk and goes into the bedroom to select from their box on her work table some suitable buttons and the wherewithal to appi them but just as she turns away with full hands those wicked buttons escape from her hold and with the natural perversity that animates all things some days they cease not their rolling till the have bestowed them selves far under the dressing case quite beyond reach hasty excl i matlon springs to her lips but Is bravely repressed while the vexed frown deepens losing temper and together she puts forth al her strength and lifts the dressing case clear away from the wall rolling it arld while she picks up the fugi tive buttons f say nell hold on calls chaile observing this exploit through the open door why don t you let me help youa you ought not to do such things you know you 11 hurt voir self oh well it matter she returns desperately I 1 m sure to be worked to death somehow it may as well be one thing as another for a moment gionest charley looks at his young wife with eyes and open never has he heard such words from her batore in that mo ment it seems to dawn aion him tor the first time how much sharpen is the optime of the still pretty face how pale the once link what dark lines tinder the blue eyes how tired a look about the child like mouth he sits down suddenly the completeness of the shock nell he says presently it you are working too hard why don t you haie a young girl to help or put out something the washing for instances 9 it isn t absolutely necessary that you should do everything you austn t overwork it we don t make up that last payment this year I 1 shall do all my own work un less I 1 m sick until we are quite out of debt and have laid something by is the firm reply she is somewhat calaf er now dian didn t I 1 agree to when we laid our plans at firsta but not unless you are able nell I 1 wont have you overwork ou are not looking very well it seems to me of course I 1 am able stubbornly vet struggling to back the weak tears at these words of sympathy of course I 1 am well what should ail mea and as what I 1 do you neve see me doing much do youa with somewhat bitter emphasis she the coat proceeds to clear away the breakfast things but just then baby carl s shrill notes as bend that baby she exclaims with no very tender inflection and dropping cups and saucers she hastens to re lieve his sufferings charley has his coat on by this time and Is about to start he has a 15 minutes ride to his work he saps into the bedroom and stoops oyer little carl come nell my gill he call cheerily fetch i s the go d by kiss oh I 1 m busy es nell tartly isiom the depths of the closet where she is electing baby s clotees kiss carl instead that will do as well I 1 lont doubt ou think a good deal more of 11 than you do 0 me any dav with perversely bitter antona tion it she thinks he will hasten to her and coax her out of her pet she Is greatly mistaken he is not used to any s ich in his bright helpmate so does not v how tc take them there is a sudden silence then she faces rotund just in time to see him give baby carl one long kiss and he turns away mute and hurt an 1 s gone she hesitates a moment proud to call to him even then till at last hei heair conquers and she runs after him but it is too late he has passed out of the gide doer gone do the walk and is aust step jiing on board the waiting horse car haw heavily the day passes after this only a tender bearded womac mastered by the same falling can know never beaole has she spoken such words to the husband she loves so deadly never before since their wedding day hay ethey baited foi even a few hours without a kiss and a loving word theirs 1 as been a very happy mar lage too having in it all the ele rients of prosperity and content charley is a house carpenter by trade a first rate mechanic sobe in lust rious earning good wages and constantly advancing at his work the have alozy little home a pret ty cottage in the suburbs to day she goes about the pretty rooms tidying everything as usual and for the first time fakes no pride or ilea auie in them she gets through her soine how doing all she thinks of an finds time for because to leave any thing undone would only add to the suffering of a mind ill at ease but there is a 1 avy weight of misery at her heart will night ever tome and bring her charley home at last every thing Is done he has prepared a most inviting supper for her good man saying to herself take baby carl and run down to the gate and meet him when he comes then we 11 kiss and make up still he does not come and it 1 quite past his usual hour she sits patiently holding her boy her face growing all the time more white and drawn and anxious oh how I 1 wish I 1 had said good by J as avei to day she whispers for the twentieth time then as the slow minutes creep along I 1 am afraid oil so afraid something has hap bened for though he is sometimes 6 little late it is seldom that hi time of coming varies a half hour and no v it is two hours and hei vague presentiments of evil are grow ing to a dreadful certainty taint she gets i p and walks the floor tired out as she is another houi rasse and in the extremity of hei distress and terror she is about tc run across to her nearest neighbor when a muffled tramping approach ei and stops the feet of them tha bear him are at his gates it seems to nellie burt that sh dies a dozen deaths in that moment while she stands rooted to the and sees them bring in the man sh loves ben seless bleeding broken then she louses herself and ills hei ready hand that arranges the bed anc the pillow under the pool unconscious head not dead no that would haat been a punishment greater than pool nellie deserves and more than ild bear but there has been at accident a scaffolding has fallen aar among the half dozen men killed or ire 1 charley burt has fared basi of an only a broken arm a dislocate dislo cat ed sho ilder and some cuts and aises rie hab been well cared tor too and only conveyed to his home when the attending surgeon has decad ed that there are no intel nal injuries and that he can safely be moved but the dread might have been stands put before her then so clear and i lain that it leaves its impress on her very ua and in all the rest of her it helps to teach her the great lesson of patience and self control so matters might have been much worse after all as it la nellie burt bad day ends with a perfect recon citation between husband and wife and a most grateful thanksgiving to god from one tender heart that she has been shaped that sharpest pang ol 01 all the utter cibery of knowing that lor this world her penitence has come too late |